|
|
|
| July 4, 2005 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1426 |
England steal dramatic tie from brink of defeat
LONDON, July 3: England, inspired by Geraint Jones and Paul Collingwood, came back from the brink of defeat to tie their triangular series one-day final against Australia at Lord’s on Saturday (partly reported in Sunday’s edition).
Chasing 197 to win, they needed 19 off the last two overs and 10 off Glenn McGrath’s last six balls. When Darren Gough was run out off the penultimate ball the home side, with their last two men at the crease, needed three for victory.
Ashley Giles then survived an lbw appeal to scamper two runs to third man as Brett Lee misfielded the ball, England ending on 196 for nine to Australia 196 all out.
It was only the 21st One-day International tie and England’s second. Their first, in May 1989 at Trent Bridge, was also against Australia.
The finish, in front of a packed crowd of more than 24,000, left the world champions in a state of shock after they had looked certain of victory in a game dominated by fine seam bowling.
Dismissed in 48.5 overs after being asked to bat in seamer-friendly, overcast conditions, Australia responded by reducing the home side to 33 for five in the 10th over only for Collingwood (53) and Jones (71) to resurrect English hopes with a 116-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Jones, who also took five catches behind the stumps, was named Man-of-the-Match.
Ricky Ponting seemed the more disappointed of the two captains. “I feel pretty empty at the moment,” he told a news conference.
“I felt it was a game we should have won. After getting their first five wickets, I thought we probably deserved to win the game. We beat the bat I don’t know how many times.”
But he added: “It’s probably a pretty fair reflection of the series. That’s one of the best one-day games you will ever see.”
It was an astonishing English escape. Michael Vaughan’s hopes of setting down a marker before a head-to-head one-day series and the Ashes seemed to have evaporated long before.
McGrath, whose first over spell earned him figures of 7-4-9-3, finished with three for 27. Lee, who produced the best ball of the game to bowl Andrew Strauss before also getting Kevin Pietersen caught behind, finished with two for 36.
Lord’s remained enveloped in thick banks of cloud for the entire day. That favoured swing and seam movement but no one profited better than the 35-year-old McGrath.
Andrew Flintoff, with three for 23, and Steve Harmison, with three for 27, had been magnificent for England after Australia had been put in. McGrath, though, was more magnificent.
First he induced the streaky Marcus Trescothick to open his blade and edge to second slip with the score on 11. Then, after Lee had spreadeagled Andrew Strauss’s stumps with a high-speed off-cutter, McGrath dug one in to Vaughan who dragged the ball into his stumps without scoring to make it 19 for three.
When Flintoff edged him behind the contest seemed decided. None of England’s top five reached double figures.
“We thought the game was gone,” Vaughan said. “When you restrict a good side to 196 you expect to win but we would have taken the tie at 33 for five.”
The series had also featured Bangladesh who early in the tournament pulled off a shock win over Australia. England and Australia had one win against each other, with another game washed out before Saturday’s drama.
England and Australia now play three one-dayers before the five Ashes Tests.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA:
A.C. Gilchrist c Pietersen b Flintoff 27
M.L. Hayden c Giles b Gough 17
R.T. Ponting c G. Jones b Harmison 7
D.R. Martyn c G. Jones b Harmison 11
A. Symonds c Strauss b Collingwood 29
M.J. Clarke lbw b S Jones 2
M.E.K. Hussey not out 62
G.B. Hogg c G. Jones b Harmison 16
B. Lee c G. Jones b Flintoff 3
J.N. Gillespie c G. Jones b Flintoff 0
G.D. McGrath c Collingwood b Gough 0
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, W-7, NB-6) 22
TOTAL (all out, 48.5 overs) 196
FALL OF WKTS: 1-50, 2-54, 3-71, 4-90, 5-93, 6-147, 7-169, 8-179, 9-179
BOWLING: Gough 6.5-1-36-2 (1nb, 2w); S.P. Jones 8-2-45-1 (1w); Flintoff 8-2-23-3 (1nb, 1w); Harmison 10-2-27-3 (1nb, 3w); Collingwood 8-0-26-1; Giles 8-0-30-0
ENGLAND:
M.E. Trescothick c Ponting b McGrath 6
A.J. Strauss b Lee 2
M.P. Vaughan b McGrath 0
K.P. Pietersen c Gilchrist b Lee 6
A. Flintoff c Hayden b McGrath 8
P.D. Collingwood run out 53
G.O. Jones lbw b Hogg 71
A.F. Giles not out 20
S.P. Jones b Hussey 1
D. Gough run out 12
S.J. Harmison not out 0
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-10, W-3, NB-2) 17
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 196
FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-13, 3-19, 4-19, 5-33, 6-149, 7-161, 8-162, 9-194.
BOWLING: Lee 10-1-36-2 (1nb, 1w); McGrath 10-4-27-3 (1nb); Gillespie 10-0-42-0 (1w); Symonds 10-2-23-0; Hogg 6-0-25-1; Hussey 4-0-31-1 (1w).
RESULT: Match tied.
UMPIRES: D.R. Shepherd (England) and B.F. Bowden (New Zealand).
TV UMPIRE: J.W. Lloyds (England).
MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Geraint Jones.
MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Andrew Symonds.—Agencies
|
|
|
|
